Mary Ellen Enright doesn’t know exactly how it happened, but
eventually her reality became clear: She was the only freshman on the varsity
volleyball team at North, and then the only sophomore, and two years later, the
Raiders’ only senior.

Enright was the only player in the county to carry that
weight, and she knew what she was getting into heading into this past
season.

“I knew it was going to be hard,” Enright said. “I knew it
was going to be a challenge.”

And it was: While the Raiders had their share of ups and
eventually finished with a winning record, they also missed the state playoffs,
a clear disappointment for a program that reached the quarterfinals in 2017.

But it wasn’t for lack of production by Enright, the team’s
main outside hitter. After playing understudy to Maddie Bryant last season,
Enright became the Raiders’ top offensive threat, recording 427 kills in 107
sets and a .313 hitting percentage, the top among outside hitters in the county
only behind Lambert’s Ally Hall, who missed half the season with a torn ACL.
Enright was also dangerous in service, with 63 aces, and excellent on defense,
with 337 digs, good for third in the county.

Getting to know...

Mary Ellen Enright

Favorite social media platform:

Snapchat

Favorite non-social media app:

Spotify

Typical breakfast:

Eggs and bacon

Main sport of choice, if not volleyball:

Softball

Favorite school subject:

Government

Go-to Netflix show:

The Vampire Diaries

“I think I ended up accomplishing most of the goals I wanted
to accomplish,” Enright said.

Mary Ellen Enright takes a swing at a ball during North Forsyth's volleyball match against Forsyth Central on Sept. 5, 2018 at North Forsyth High School.
- photo by Ian Frazer
Enright, who is signed to play at Shorter, still feels good
about plenty of aspects of the Raiders season. Despite her experience making
her something of an outlier, she still felt as close with this year’s North
team as any other, with the Raiders avoiding the cliquey pattern that can
sometimes affect teams, and Enright helped North head coaches Drew and Kelly
Cecil obtain their 200th career win as a coaching duo.

She also broke the marks for 1,000 career kills and digs, pulling
it off in the last set of the Raiders’ last game of the year with a heroic
22-kill performance in an area tournament loss to West Forsyth.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge, but my setter, she
knew that I wanted to get the kills,” Enright said. “So towards the end of the
game, it was kind of like Maddie Bryant last year.”

The Raiders’ inexperience and Enright’s unusual role made
for some difficult moments and stretches during the season. If there’s one
thing she hopes she taught the program’s younger members, though, it’s that
those obstacles shouldn’t affect your preparation.

“Always work hard in practice, no matter what,” Enright
said. “No matter if you’re frustrated, or you had a bad day, to always just
work hard.”

Her performance, even in an off season for the program,
shows the wisdom of that advice.